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After briefly falling below 6% last Friday, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped up to 6.875%, increasing by more than one percentage point. The rate is nearly two percentage points higher than the average rate just one month ago. Rates for most other loan categories increased as well, although not quite so dramatically. The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate loan, however, moved lower. The latest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.875%. ⇑ The latest rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 5.143%. ⇓ The latest rate on a 5/1 ARM is 4.258%. ⇑ The...

Mortgage rates in the United States have fallen to the lowest level ever on the heels of concerns stemming from the coronavirus outbreak. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3.29% during the week ending March 5, a major decrease of 16 basis points from the previous week, Freddie Mac FMCC, -2.40% reported Thursday. Previously, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit an all-time low back in November 2012 in the wake of the recession, when the average rate fell to 3.31%.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump just revealed an inconvenient truth about U.S. debt, the outspoken and often controversial Peter Schiff told CNBC in a recent interview. Last week, Trump joined CNBC's "Squawk Box" last week to discuss a wide range of topics including U.S. debt, interest rates and replacing Fed Chair Janet Yellen. It was Trump's comments about potentially renegotiating the more than $19 trillion in U.S. debt and the sensitivity surrounding higher interest rates that raised eyebrows. While some observers argued that Trump's approach could be tantamount to a debt default, Schiff told CNBC the GOP nominee was...

<p>You want proof that it's tough to get a mortgage? Ben Bernanke, the nation's top central banker until the start of this year, is having trouble refinancing his home.</p> <p>Bernanke spoke of his problems during an appearance Thursday at a conference in Chicago hosted by the National Investment Center for Senior Housing and Care.</p>

The Federal Reserve released its Beige Book (not to be confused with the Necronomicon from Bruce Campbell’s film “Army of Darkness”) said today that the U.S. economy maintained a moderate pace of growth as factory output rose and the real-estate market improved. “Overall economic activity expanded at a moderate pace” from early April to late May, the Fed said in its Beige Book business survey, which is based on reports from its 12 district banks. “Hiring was steady or increased slightly.” Real GDP growth at 1.9% is pretty moderate. And a cash only/investor housing recovery is doing about as well...

Happy Memorial Day! Need advice from FRiends as we are looking to refinance our 2nd home mortgage. Our mortgage already was purchased by Fannie Mae (we found this out by accident). Quicken Loans, which is HARP approved (Home Affordable Refinance Program), offers 4.375% 30-year fixed, (we're paying 5.625% currently), total fees $1900. Loan amount $300k.

President Barack Obama visited Val and Paul Keller on Friday. They owe $168,000 on their mortgage. Their home is currently valued at $100,000. Obama forgot to mention something. At the peak of the market in 2007, the Keller's did a $250,000 cash-out refinance! Now they want Obama's help.

Jim Pethokoukis thinks it might be, but I’m not so sure. As described by Barack Obama, the program is a significant expansion of a couple of programs that so far had been limited to Fannie/Freddie-backed mortgages. CNBC explains that the new initiative will now promote refinancing for mortgages no matter if backed by one of the two troubled GSEs or not, but with “precious few details” on hand, much of the program remains unclear: After several largely ineffective programs to help troubled borrowers and after fruitless attempts at budging the hard-line conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, President Obama...

We Stand for Principle Over Politicsand the Establishment Can't Stand It December 21, 2011 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: "House Democrats tried Wednesday to force a vote on the Senate’s two-month extension of the payroll-tax cut, but Republicans gaveled the House closed to prevent them from having a chance, as top GOP leaders huddled down the hall to try to figure a way out of the mess. The House was set to hold a pro forma session, but two top Democrats, Reps. Steny H. Hoyer and Chris Van Hollen, demanded to be recognized to try to force a vote on the...

President Obama’s message to spur the economy has changed from “pass this bill” to “we can’t wait.” And mortgage rates are the impatient administration’s first target. Rather than waiting for congressional action to improve the outlook for homeowners, the White House is making it easier to refinance loans backed by the Home Affordable Refinance Program. Though the executive branch can’t legally reach into the practices of private lenders, here is a look at a list of changes (and nudges) the administration plans to implement beginning on Nov. 15:

Las Vegas – Seeking to breathe new life into a sagging economy, President Obama will attempt an executive branch rescue of homeowners trying to refinance underwater mortgages, with a new initiative that lets people with little or no equity get a better interest rate at a reduced cost. The initiative, the first in a series of announcements expected this week by the president, applies to homeowners with federally guaranteed mortgages who are current on their payments. The revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program, which aims to avert foreclosures, is expected "to encourage new, lower-cost loans" to more homeowners who are paying...

<p>WASHINGTON — Fixed mortgage rates have fallen to historic new lows for a fourth straight week and are likely to fall further.</p> <p>The average on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.01 percent this week, Freddie Mac said Thursday. That's the lowest rate since the mortgage buyer began keeping records in 1971. The last time long-term rates were lower was in 1951, when most long-term home loans lasted just 20 or 25.</p>

I am in the middle of refinancing my home. I expect an answer this week. The problem is, the mortgage company seems nervous about my income. I live off trading stocks and options in a self directed IRA. I have little or no income otherwise. I am borrowing about 3/4 of what the house appraised, so the payment will be within $20 of what I'm paying now. I have an 800 credit score. They have contacted me twice about proving my income. They have asked for my 1099's and my 1040's to prove my income. I explained to the person...

Providing fresh evidence that it is intellectually exhausted, the Obama administration is flirting with revisiting the mortgage-refinancing market. And like the semi-criminal scam that was the Home Affordable Mortgage Program, this new push is not really about helping out innocent bystanders crushed by the housing crash, but about the hundreds of thousands of market-massacring new foreclosures that are coming down the pipe — foreclosures that may be delayed, even if they are not prevented. The Committee to Reinflate the Bubble is in session. Banks are reasonably eager to refinance certain kinds of mortgages — what they lose in interest, they...

(I'm considering using my VA loan for the 1st time.) Currently at 5-1/4 (for 30) and would like to try for lower. How much lower a rate makes it worth the paperwork ,”fees” , hassle and hoop-jumping? Anyone here ever used Quicken Loans to refinance online?

Two erroneous $11 doctor bills stopped Jeanne White from refinancing her home. The 49-year-old resident of Colleyville, Texas, says she was shocked to learn in October that the two medical bills, which had been turned over to a collection agency, had caused her credit score to fall to 680 from 757 — making refinancing far too expensive. "I was told I'd have to pay $14,000 in closing costs to get a 5.5% interest rate," Ms. White says, substantially more than she would have paid with a higher credit score. When Ms. White, a retired sales manager, contacted the doctor's office,...

Today I received a letter offering to re-finance our mortgage. They knew the balance needed to refinance plus some other credit information. As I started to shred it, I finally saw at the bottom what company it was from. I was amazed that it was from the Bank of England. Why are they wanting to re-finance our mortgage?? And how did they get our name, address and mortgage info?

Momentum Gathers For A New, Massive Bailout Of Homeowners Joe Weisenthal Sep. 19, 2010, 8:48 AM A new federal program that would be tasked with a massive refinancing of mortgages for strapped Americans has been chattered about for awhile, though The White House has never indicated that the idea is on the table. But the calls are growing louder. This time it's from the NYT op-ed page, where former Bush advisor (and now Columbia business prof) Glenn Hubbard along with Columbia's Chris Mayer are calling for exactly that -- a massive new agency to bail out underwater homeowners via refinancing....

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc was involved as an underwriter and an investor in Lloyds Banking Group Plc's 23.5 billion pound (US$36.1 billion) refinancing in late 2009, the Financial Times said on Thursday, citing four people involved in the capital raising. Goldman demanded last-minute changes to the structure of the transaction, the newspaper said, citing the people. This had the effect of benefiting Goldman's position as a bond investor, the newspaper said. Bankers at Goldman say the company's ethical walls bar underwriters from knowing how its proprietary traders invest, the newspaper said. Goldman was hit last Friday...

Why are so many homeowners underwater on their mortgages? In crafting programs to prevent foreclosures, policymakers have assumed that the primary reason homeowners owe more on their home than it is worth is that they bought at the top of the market. In other words, they’ve lost equity primarily through forces beyond their control. A new study challenges this premise and finds that excessive borrowing may have played as great a role. Michael LaCour-Little, a finance professor at California State University at Fullerton, looked at 4,000 foreclosures in Southern California from 2006-08. He found that, at least in Southern California,...